This invention relates to a composition for non-crosslinked foam composed of a major proportion of a 1-butene polymer, a minor proportion of an ethylene polymer and a blowing agent. More specifically, this invention relates to an expandable composition suited to give a non-crosslinked foam excellent in heat resistance, flexibility and creep resistance.
Plastic foam products find wide applications in the fields of automobiles, household appliances, packing members, clothes, food, medical products, etc. as thermally insulating materials and cushioning materials by making use of their light weight, thermal insulating properties and cushioning properties.
Properties required of foam products are generally light weight, thermal insulating properties and cushioning properties. However, in accordance with various needs in the world, new foams having new characteristics, for example, more flexible foams or foams having excellent heat resistance have been increasingly demanded. There are many plastic materials used in foam products. Of these, typical thermoplastic resins are high-pressure low-density polyethylene and polystyrene. These resins have been used as foam products naturally by focussing attention on their mechanical properties but largely due to ease of expansion molding. Though the high-pressure low-density polyethylene and polystyrene have excellent expandability, they have poor heat resistance, and their maximum use temperature is about 80.degree. C. to about 90.degree. C.; they cannot be used at a high temperature above 100.degree. C. Meanwhile, in the aspect of heat resistance, polypropylene is excellent, but polyproylene alone can hardly give a uniform foam.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 40,167/1981 discloses a foam prepared from a mixture of 90 to 30% by weight of polypropylene and 10 to 70% by weight of polybutene-1. The patent publication states that this foam has excellent heat resistance, high-temperature creep characteristics, mechanical strength and thermal insulating properties and is suitable for use as a thermally insulating material for high-temperature structures. It also states that when the mixing proportions of polypropylene and polybutene-1 fall outside the above-specified ranges, a good foam cannot be obtained.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 129,025/1983 discloses a polyolefin foam prepared from a mixture of (a) 60 to 98% by weight of a propylene/ethylene block copolymer having a melt index of 0.5 to 2.0 and an ethylene content of 5 to 15%, (b) 1 to 20% by weight of polybutene or a butene copolymer having a melt index of 2 to 10, and (c) 1 to 20% by weight of low-density polyethylene having a melt index of 2 to 10.
However, the foams described in the above documents are, though excellent in heat resistance, poor in flexibility because they are too hard owing to mechanical properties of polypropylene, and cannot be used as thermally insulating materials for curved piping portions or for packing materials in bottle closures requiring flexibility. When the foams are used as thermally insulating materials for clothes and cushioning materials of medical products, they are required to be better in flexibility and elastic recovery than the conventional foams.
Like polyethylene and polypropylene, poly-1-butene is a polyolefin resin having flexibility and heat resistance and excellent high-temperature creep characteristics. Moreover, a copolymer of 1-butene and another alpha-olefin is used in the field requiring flexibility and creep resistance because when the content of alpha-olefin increases, the melting point lowers and heat resistance also decreases, but flexibility improves. The 1-butene polymer thus possesses these excellent characteristics but is similar in viscoelasticity to polypropylene. Therefore, like polypropylene, the 1-butene polymer alone does not afford a uniform foam.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,544 discloses a composition comprising a 1-butene polymer, as little as 0.02 to 5.0% by weight of stearamide and as little as 0.02 to 5.0% by weight of high-density polyethylene, said composition having high crystallizability and providing a film having improved tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and creep resistance. This U.S. Patent makes no mention of foams.
It is an object of this invention to provide an expandable composition that gives a non-crosslinked foam comprising a 1-butene polymer and an ethylene polymer.
Another object of this invention is to provide a novel expandable composition that gives a non-crosslinked foam suitable for use as a thermally insulating material, a cushioning material and as a capliner material having excellent flexibility, heat resistance, creep resistance, cushioning properties and hygienic properties.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a non-crosslinked foam obtained from an expandable composition of this invention.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be made clear in the specification.